This invention relates to the discovery and asexual propagation of a new and distinct variety of Nandina domestica (a member of the Berberidacia family that is commonly known as "Heavenly Bamboo"). The new plant variety was discovered as a mutant of the Nandina domestica nana cultivar named "Harbour Dwarf" in a cultivated bed of "Harbour Dwarf" plants that were growing in the Greenleaf Nursery Company, El Campo, Tex. The new variety of Nandina domestica nana has been named "Greray".
The "Greray" mutant exhibited vastly different growing characteristics than those common to the "Harbour Dwarf" variety-particularly in that the "Greray" variety has a dwarf habit of growth when compared to the Nandina domestica progenitor "Heavenly Bamboo", but it is not as dwarf as its parent Nandina domestica nana "Harbour Dwarf". The new "Greray" variety is symmetrical, densely mounding and compact in form which differentiates and distinguishes it not only from its parent "Harbour Dwarf" and from its progenitor "Heavenly Bamboo", but also from related cultivars such as the variety called "Compacta". The new "Greray" cultivar is freely branching from basal and lateral buds and thus forms a tight compact globe. Its leaves are tripinnately compound.
Testing and evaluation has shown the "Greray" variety to be stable in its distinguishing characteristics over several succeeding generations upon asexual propagation by using shoot cuttings and by tissue culturing at a nursery in El Campo, Tex.
The "Greray" variety fully lives up to the "Heavenly Bamboo" common name often given to this family of plants. Orange hued new growth radiates crown-like upward while refreshing green mature growth extends horizontally to present a perky, full foliaged appearance. The refined texture of this plant is desirable for formal or casual settings. The fullness and controlled height of this dwarf nandina make it a prime choice when accent or foundation plantings are needed.